System and method for remote configuration of scalable datacenter

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining, an application requirement for a server of a data center geographically separated from a central location. A configuration file adapted for the server according to the application requirement is obtained at the central location and a host processor located at the data center is selected according to the application requirement. A static IP address preassigned to an administrative portion of the selected host processor is identified. The selected host processor is initialized remotely over a wide area network via the administrative port without utilizing any software resources pre-existing at the data center. The initializing configures the selected host processor according to the configuration file to service the application requirement. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 17/711,080, filed Apr. 1, 2022, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/240,336, filed Apr. 26,2021. All sections of the aforementioned application(s) and/or patent(s)are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to a system and method for remoteconfiguration of scalable data center.

BACKGROUND

A data center houses a collection of electronic devices, such asservers, computer storage devices and/or networking equipment, that areaccessed by users over a communications network (e.g., a wide areanetwork (WAN) such as the Internet). By way of example only, theresources of a data center may comprise servers, storage, switches,routers, or modems. Often, data centers provide support for corporatewebsites and services, web hosting companies, telephony serviceproviders, internet service providers, or application service providers.Some data centers provide for virtualization of various resources withinthe data center. For example, a data center may include a server poolfrom which servers may be dynamically provisioned to form one or morevirtual networks. The virtual networks may then be provisioned to one ormore clients.

The computing devices may be interconnected with two different networks:(i) an in-band network for conveying the data upon which the computingdevices operate, for example, content in webpages, queries and queryresponses, and data for high-performance computing; and (ii) anout-of-band management network for conveying commands to the individualcomputing devices to manage their operation, e.g., for conveyinginformation like sensor data indicative of the operation of thecomputing devices or for remote serial console sessions for servermanagement.

Out-of-band management may serve a number of purposes, such as managingsecurity risks, by limiting the attack surface of a network that couldbe used to control the computing devices and segregating the in-bandnetwork that often receives data from the outside world. In at leastsome instances, out-of-band management networks are operative to controlthe computing devices even when the computing devices are turned off,for example, by accessing memory on computing devices that is persistent(like flash memory) to perform things like extensible firmware interface(e.g., BIOS or UEFI) updates, read values from registers indicative ofconfiguration or state, and the like. Other examples of activitiesinclude booting a device that is been turned off, remote installation ofoperating systems, updates, setting hardware clock speeds, updating orquerying firmware versions, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment of a communications network in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a remote data center configuration system functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a hybrid data center configuration system functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a remote data center configuration system functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2D depicts an illustrative embodiment of a remote data centerconfiguration process in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a virtualized communication network in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for determining compute host configurations dynamically inresponse to changing requirements and building network compute hosts ona hybrid data center remotely from a centrally located, dynamicallygenerated boot file. Other embodiments are described in the subjectdisclosure.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a process thatincludes determining, by a processing system including a processor at acentralized location, an application requirement for a server of a datacenter geographically separated from the centralized location. Aconfiguration file adapted for the server according to the applicationrequirement is retrieved, by the processing system and a host processorlocated at the data center is selected, by the processing system andaccording to the application requirement to obtain a selected hostprocessor. A static internet protocol (IP) address preassigned to theselected host processor is identified by the processing system. Theselected host processor is connected to a wide area network and includesan administrative port associated with the static IP address. Theselected host processor is booted by the processing system remotely viathe administrative port according to a boot record located at thecentralized location. The selected host processor is built by theprocessing system and according to the configuration file, wherein,responsive to the building, configuration information is transferredsecurely from the centralized location to the selected host processorvia the administrative port to obtain a suitably configured data centerprocessor.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a device, thatincludes a processing system having a processor at a centralizedlocation and a memory that stores executable instructions. Theexecutable instructions, when executed by the processing system,facilitate performance of operations that include determining anapplication requirement for a server of a data center geographicallyseparated from the centralized location. According to execution of theexecutable instructions, a configuration file is obtained that isadapted for the server according to the application requirement.Further, a host processor located at the data center is selectedaccording to the application requirement to obtain a selected hostprocessor. A static internet protocol (IP) address preassigned to theselected host processor is identified, wherein the selected hostprocessor is connected to a wide area network and comprises anadministrative port associated with the static IP address. According toexecution of the executable instructions, the selected host processor isbooted remotely via the administrative port without utilizing anypre-existing software resources available at the data center. Theselected host processor configured according to the configuration file,wherein, responsive to the configuring, configuration information istransferred securely from the centralized location to the selected hostprocessor via the administrative port to obtain a suitably configureddata center processor.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a non-transitory,machine-readable medium including executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processing system including a processor, facilitateperformance of operations. The operations include determining, anapplication requirement for a server of a data center geographicallyseparated from a central location. The operations further includeobtaining, at the central location, a configuration file adapted for theserver according to the application requirement. A host processorlocated at the data center is selected according to the applicationrequirement to obtain a selected host processor and a static internetprotocol (IP) address preassigned to the selected host processor isidentified. The selected host processor is connected to a wide areanetwork and includes an administrative port associated with the staticIP address. The selected host processor is initialized remotely via theadministrative port without utilizing any software resourcespre-existing at the data center, such that initialization of theselected host processor configures the selected host processor accordingto the configuration file to service the application requirement.

Previously, deployment of network compute servers on hybrid data centerscan be very complex and inefficient. According to traditionaltechniques, when a new data center needs to be built, an initialbootstrap environment is built locally, at the new data center location.This technique is sometimes referred to as a bootstrap, using one ormore seed hosts, or genesis nodes. Site engineers may be deployed to thedata center to configure and construct a such seed host that, in turn,may be utilized by local site technicians to build out a complete suiteof network compute environments. A data center, by design, is a facilitycontaining and supporting a large number of compute hosts that may beconfigured according to one or more of a particular service provider,and/or tenant, and/or application. As requirements evolve, some computehosts may be repurposed, while excess capacity of others may be appliedto unmet requirements. Alternatively or in addition, new compute hostsmay be deployed to the data center and configured according to one ormore requirements.

It is understood that data centers may be strategically locatedaccording to one or more of available resources, tenants, subscribers,and the like. Consequently, one service provider may utilize manygeographically dispersed data centers. Physical deployment of teams tothe data centers can be expensive and time consuming. For example, eachtraditional data center may require separate hardware for bootstrapfunctions that would have to be provisioned before any building and/orreconfiguring of the rest of the data center could be accomplished.Physical deployments of a team to one data center location generallymeans they would not be available to tend to another data centerlocation—no overlap. Such limitations would tend to hinder a serviceprovider's responsiveness to accelerating and/or changing businessneeds, e.g., if a new data center needs to be built, or an existing onemodified quickly.

Some technologies have been applied to build and/or otherwise expand ormodify data centers remotely, but such approaches would necessarilyexpose network resources to security risks, as they need to open networkprotocols such as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) andtftpboot to be enabled over WAN links (Wide Area Networks) in order toaccomplish remote building of such data center. Consequently, suchremote techniques would be used on a limited scale because of thesecurity implications. Also, with traditional bootstrap methodologies,network compute hosts on hybrid data centers using the tagged VLAN(virtual local area network) is not supported. Even when done, it ismostly involves local customization in the environment to accomplishthis.

According to the techniques disclosed herein a hybrid data center may beautomatically built remotely, e.g., at a centralized location, withoutrequiring any local building of a local seed host and/or genesisinfrastructure environment at the data center and without requiringapplication of any DHCP and/or tftpboot protocols during the build. Inat least some embodiments, the remote build may be accomplished with atagged VLAN and/or without any manual process to bring up the new datacenter. For example, the entire process from customization to build ofnetwork compute hosts of a data center may be completely automated,transparent, seamless and very efficient to quickly build hybrid datacenter compute nodes.

In at least some embodiments, a custom bootable ISO file may be createddynamically, e.g., responsive to a new requirement. The custom bootableISO file may be prepared by assembling, combining and/or embeddingwhatever information, e.g., configuration information, data and/or filesas may be necessary to build a compute host. By way of example, thebootable ISO files may be generated at image files, e.g., on a per-hostbasis, on-the-fly, according to a “blackbox” environment. For example, ablackbox may refer to the ISO image files that may be handled as blackboxes, e.g., with little or no regard for any specifics of a particularISO image file. In at least some embodiments, the ISO file images may bedesigned and/or otherwise created beforehand and stored in a fileretrieval system, such as a database system. Accordingly, once arequirement is identified, a corresponding ISO image file may beobtained from the database with the appropriate configurationinformation to support the requirement. A bootable version of the ISOimage file may base used to build a data center network compute host orhosts from a centralized location, remotely over a secure communicationsession, e.g., using HTTPS.

In at least some embodiments, the remote boot may utilize remote bootprovisions of a target compute host. One example of remote bootprovisions is iPXE, an open-source network boot firmware technique.Instead of using DHCP and/or tftp processes, a single TCP port isutilized on the target compute host, e.g., have been pre-assigned astatic IP address. Use of a single TCP port opened for communication ofthe ISO image file and/or other resources as may be required accordingto the particular configuration. Such a “blackbox” environment allows asmall host to be built at a central location site, which then pulls anyneeded information about the hosts to be built, e.g., networkinformation, from a database, e.g., a central inventory database.According to the blackbox environment, a small configuration file, e.g.,an image file, for the server may be compiled and built in real time,responsive to identification of a requirement for a new data centerresource. It is envisioned that in at least some embodiments, a size ofthe file may be relatively small, e.g., just few kilobytes. Therelatively small configuration or image file may facilitate, causeand/or otherwise force a remote network compute host to essentiallybuild itself. The build process may be accomplished over a securechannel, e.g., utilizing a secure protocol, such as the HTTPS protocol.It is understood that the HTTPS protocol may be safe enough for some, ifnot most applications. Accordingly, the configure-build process may takeplace remotely across a wide area network (WAN) link, e.g., theInternet, using communications supported by a HTTPS protocol.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a block diagram is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a system 100 in accordance withvarious aspects described herein. For example, system 100 can facilitatein whole or in part, identification of a requirement for a new and/ormodified compute host at a data center, generating a bootable ISO imagefile in real-time at a centralized location that is geographicallyremote from the data center, and remotely booting and building thecompute host according to the ISO image file via an HTTPS. The remoteboot and/or build process may be accomplished via a single TCP port ofthe compute host having been preassigned a static IP address. Inparticular, a communications network 125 is presented for providingbroadband access 110 to a plurality of data terminals 114 via accessterminal 112, wireless access 120 to a plurality of mobile devices 124and vehicle 126 via base station or access point 122, voice access 130to a plurality of telephony devices 134, via switching device 132 and/ormedia access 140 to a plurality of audio/video display devices 144 viamedia terminal 142. In addition, communication network 125 is coupled toone or more content sources 175 of audio, video, graphics, text and/orother media. While broadband access 110, wireless access 120, voiceaccess 130 and media access 140 are shown separately, one or more ofthese forms of access can be combined to provide multiple accessservices to a single client device (e.g., mobile devices 124 can receivemedia content via media terminal 142, data terminal 114 can be providedvoice access via switching device 132, and so on).

The communications network 125 includes a plurality of network elements(NE) 150, 152, 154, 156, etc., for facilitating the broadband access110, wireless access 120, voice access 130, media access 140 and/or thedistribution of content from content sources 175. The communicationsnetwork 125 can include a circuit switched or packet switched network, avoice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network, Internet protocol (IP)network, a cable network, a passive or active optical network, a 4G, 5G,or higher generation wireless access network, WIMAX network,UltraWideband network, personal area network or other wireless accessnetwork, a broadcast satellite network and/or other communicationsnetwork.

In various embodiments, the access terminal 112 can include a digitalsubscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), cable modem terminationsystem (CMTS), optical line terminal (OLT) and/or other access terminal.The data terminals 114 can include personal computers, laptop computers,netbook computers, tablets or other computing devices along with digitalsubscriber line (DSL) modems, data over coax service interfacespecification (DOCSIS) modems or other cable modems, a wireless modemsuch as a 4G, 5G, or higher generation modem, an optical modem and/orother access devices.

In various embodiments, the base station or access point 122 can includea 4G, 5G, or higher generation base station, an access point thatoperates via an 802.11 standard such as 802.11n, 802.11ac or otherwireless access terminal. The mobile devices 124 can include mobilephones, e-readers, tablets, phablets, wireless modems, and/or othermobile computing devices.

In various embodiments, the switching device 132 can include a privatebranch exchange or central office switch, a media services gateway, VoIPgateway or other gateway device and/or other switching device. Thetelephony devices 134 can include traditional telephones (with orwithout a terminal adapter), VoIP telephones and/or other telephonydevices.

In various embodiments, the media terminal 142 can include a cablehead-end or other TV head-end, a satellite receiver, gateway or othermedia terminal 142. The display devices 144 can include televisions withor without a set top box, personal computers and/or other displaydevices.

In various embodiments, the content sources 175 include broadcasttelevision and radio sources, video on demand platforms and streamingvideo and audio services platforms, one or more content data networks,data servers, web servers and other content servers, and/or othersources of media.

In various embodiments, the communications network 125 can includewired, optical and/or wireless links and the network elements 150, 152,154, 156, etc., can include service switching points, signal transferpoints, service control points, network gateways, media distributionhubs, servers, firewalls, routers, edge devices, switches and othernetwork nodes for routing and controlling communications traffic overwired, optical and wireless links as part of the Internet and otherpublic networks as well as one or more private networks, for managingsubscriber access, for billing and network management and for supportingother network functions.

The system 100 includes one or more data centers 181, each housing oneor more data center units (DCU) 182 providing compute host processorsthat may be configured and/or reconfigured to provide applicationservices to network service provider clients and/or data center tenants.The compute hosts include one or more programmable processors along withother familiar computer architecture components, such as memory, cachememory, bus architectures, network interface cards, data storage,graphic processors, user interfaces. The data centers 181 and/or thedata center units 182, e.g., the compute hosts of the data center units182, include at least one network interface adapted to facilitatecommunications with the communications network 125 and/or with remotesystems and/or user equipment via the communications network 125. Thecompute hosts may include familiar forms, such as desktop computers,minicomputers, and/or server computers, e.g., tower servers, rackservers.

The system 100 also includes one or more centralized locations 183,sometimes referred to as operation and maintenance (O&M) centers 183,that may be adapted to support O&M functions associated with one or moresystem elements, such as the data centers 181 and/or the data centerunits 182. According to the illustrative example, the O&M center 183includes a data center build server 184 and an inventory database 185.The centralized location 183, e.g., via the data center build server184, is in communication with the data center units 182 of the remotedata center 181, via the communications network 125. It is anticipatedthat one or more data centers 181 may be located in geographicallydiverse locations according to one or more of client requirements,end-user demand, facility availability, cost management, security, andthe like. According to the techniques disclosed herein, the same datacenter build server 184, or perhaps different data center build servers184 at a common central location 183, may be used to add, remove, modifyand/or otherwise configure one or more data center units 182 at one ormore geographically diverse data centers 181.

In at least some embodiments, the data center builder server 284 has alocal user interface 185 (shown in phantom). The user interface mayinclude one or more of a display device, a data entry device, e.g., akeyboard, a pointing device, such as a touchscreen or touchpad, a mouse,a trackball and/or a stylus, and possibly one or more peripheraldevices, such as a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and the like.Alternatively or in addition, one or more of the data center buildserver 184 or the inventory database 185 may be accessed remotely, e.g.,by a client application running on a host device geographicallyseparated from the central location 183. According to the illustrativeexample, one or more of the plurality of data terminals 114 and/or theaccess terminal 112 may be configured with data center configurationfunctionality 190 a, 190 b, generally 190. In at least some embodiments,the data center configuration functionality 190 may include anapplication program or app that is adapted to facilitate remoteoperation and/or access to data and/or functionality of the data centerbuild server 184 and/or the inventory database 185. Likewise, one ormore of the plurality of audio/video display devices 144 and/or themedia terminal 142 may be configured with similar data centerconfiguration functionality 191 a, 191 b, generally 191, and one or moreof the mobile devices 124 and/or vehicles 126 may be configured withsimilar data center configuration functionality 192 a, 192 b, generally192.

According to the example architecture, a network engineer may access,generate, store and/or otherwise modify, one or more configuration filesadapted to configure one or more of the data center units 182 accordingto various network and/or client requirements. The data centerconfiguration functionality or apps 190, 191, 192 may provide a browsertool to browse configuration files previously stored and retrievable viathe inventory database 185. Alternatively or in addition, the datacenter configuration functionality or apps 190, 191, 192 may provide afile editor to facilitate creation of new configuration files and/ormodification of previously generated configuration files retrievable viathe inventory database 185. Storage of any new and/or modifiedconfiguration files may be coordinated remotely via the data centerconfiguration functionality or apps 190. 191. 192.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a remote data center configuration system 200 functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein. The remote data center configuration system200 may be adapted to generate a bootable ISO image file in real-time ata centralized location that is geographically remote from a data center,such that a computer at the remote data center may be remotely bootedand built according to the ISO image file via an HTTPS session over awide area network. In at least some embodiments, the remote boot and/orbuild process may be accomplished via a single TCP port of the computehost having been preassigned a static IP address as disclosed in furtherdetail below.

The remote data center configuration system 200 includes one or moredata center units (DCU) 201 a, 201 b, 201 c, generally 201. Each datacenter unit 201 includes a group of host processors, e.g., host_1 202 a,host_2 202 b, host_3 202 c . . . host_n 202 d, generally 202. In atleast some embodiments in which a client-server architecture isemployed, the host processor 202 may include computer hardware and/orsoftware, e.g., computer programs, that provide functionality for otherprograms or devices, referred to as “clients.” The host processor mayinclude a hosting server adaptable to host and/or otherwise house one ormore of websites and/or related data, applications and/or services.

The data center units 201 may be housed in a data center facility. Thedata center facility provides a building and/or dedicated space within abuilding, e.g., a computer room, or a group of buildings used to housethe data center units 201, which may include computer systems, as wellas other associated components, such as telecommunications and storagesystems. It is common for most data center components and/or systems tobe provided in a redundant manner, e.g., having backup components, whichmay include entirely redundant, hot swappable, data center units 201and/or host processors 202. Other redundant infrastructure may include,without limitation, power supplies, data communication connections,environmental controls, e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression, aswell as various security devices. Some data centers may be establishedfor a single tenant, e.g., an enterprise data center, and/or formulti-tenants, e.g., an Internet hosting data center. In at least someembodiments, the data center units 201 and/or host processor 202 mayinclude “bare-metal” servers, e.g., computer servers that host onetenant, or consumer, only. Host processors 202 that support bare-metalserver applications may be distinguished from other host processors 202providing servers that may host multiple tenants, which may, in at leastsome instances, utilize virtualization and/or cloud hosting. In at leastsome applications, bare-metal servers may be used by a single consumerwithout being sharable between consumers. The techniques disclosedherein may apply to bare-metal servers and/or shareable servers.

In at least some embodiments, one or more of the host processors 202includes an out-of-band management (OBM) subsystem 203 a, 203 b, 203 c,203 d, generally 203, shown in phantom. The OBM subsystem 203, whenprovided, may use one or more management interfaces (or serial ports) tofacilitate remote management of servers and/or networking equipment,such as the management of the host processors 202 themselves. The OBMsubsystem 203 may allow a network operator to establish trust boundariesin accessing a management function to apply it to network resources. TheOBM subsystem 203 may be used to ensure management connectivity(including the ability to determine the status of any network component)independent of the status of other in-band network components. In atleast some embodiments, the OBM subsystem 203 may be capable offunctioning before an operating system of the host processor 202 hasbeen booted. By way of contrast, in-band management is based on in-bandconnectivity and software that must be installed on the remote systembeing managed, e.g., the host processor 202, and would only be availableafter an operating system of the host processor 202 has been booted.Examples of OBM subsystems 203 include, without limitation, a remoteaccess controller, such as the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller(iDRAC) of Dell Technologies or Integrated Lights Out (iLo) managementof Hewlett-Packard.

In at least some embodiments, hardware, e.g., host processor 202initialization may be accomplished using firmware referred to as basicinput/output system (BIOS) firmware. The BIOS may be accessed andimplemented during a booting process, e.g., performed at power-onstartup, to provide runtime services for operating systems and, perhaps,other programs. In at least some instances, the BIOS firmware may bepre-installed on a host processor's system board and configured as afirst software to be run when powered on. Generally, booting relates toa process of starting a computer. It may be initiated by hardware suchas a button press, or by a software command. After the computer isswitched on, its central processing unit (CPU) typically has no softwarein its main memory, so some process must load software into memorybefore it can be executed. This may be accomplished using hardwareand/or firmware in the CPU, or by a separate processor in the computersystem.

A boot device generally refers to a device from which an operatingsystem may be loaded. In at least some embodiments, BIOS firmware of thehost processor 202 supports booting from various devices, typically alocal solid-state drive or hard disk drive via the GPT or master bootrecord (MBR) on such a drive or disk, an optical disc drive, a USB massstorage device (FTL-based flash drive, SD card or multi-media card slot,USB hard disk drive, USB optical disc drive, etc.), or a networkinterface card, e.g., using PXE.

It is understood that in at least some embodiments, the boot process maybe initiated remotely, e.g., via the WAN 209 by using a bootable ISOconfiguration image prepared by the data center build server 208according to predetermined configuration data obtained via the inventorydatabase 210. For example, the host processor 202 may be pre-configuredwith a network interface or port having a pre-assigned IP address. TheIP address may be a static address allowing the host processor 202 to beremotely accessed by the data center build server 208. according to atleast some architectures, the data center build server 208 and/or theinventory database 210 may reside behind a first firewall at a firstcentralized location. Alternatively or in addition, the data centerunits 201 may reside behind a second firewall at a geographically remotedata center facility. A secure communication session may be establishedover the WAN 209, e.g., the Internet.

By way of nonlimiting example, the secure communication session utilizesa hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTPS) protocol to exchangeinformation between the data center build server 208 and one or more ofthe host processors 202 of one or more of the data center units 201.Information, including information of a bootable ISO configuration imagefile, may be transferred with adequate security based on the HTTPSprotocol, from the data center build server 208 to the preconfiguredportion of one of the host processors 202 of one of the data centerunits 201. The host processor 202, in turn, may be booted remotelyaccording to the bootable ISO configuration image received via thepreconfigured port. The ISO configuration image may include virtuallyall of the configuration necessary to bootstrap, initialize and/orotherwise configure the host processor 202 according to the data centerrequirement. Alternatively or in addition, the ISO configuration filemay facilitate and/or otherwise initiate a transfer of additionalconfiguration information from one or more of the data center buildserver 208, the inventory database 210, e.g., directly, and/or fromanother configuration server or source. Such another configurationserver may reside at the centralized location, and/or at yet anotherlocation, geographically separate from the centralized location.

In at least some embodiments, one or more of the host processors 202 maypre-boot execution environment (PXE) 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d,generally 204, shown in phantom. The PXE 204, when provided, may use oneor more management interfaces (or serial ports) to facilitate remotemanagement of servers and/or networking equipment, such as themanagement of the host processors 202 themselves. In at least someembodiments, the PXE 204 is provided via BIOS resident in a read onlymemory of the host processor 202.

The system 200 also includes a data center build server 208 and aninventory database 210. The data center build server 208 is incommunication with one or more of the data center units 201 and/or thehost processors 202 via a wide area network (WAN) 209, such as theInternet. The data center build server 208 is also in communication withthe inventory database 210. In some embodiments, the inventory database210 is hosted on the data center build server 208, e.g., according to adatabase application of the 208. Inventory records of the inventorydatabase 210 may be stored locally, e.g., utilizing a local storagedevice, such as an internal hard drive, an internal flash drive, aremovable storage device, such as a removable flash drive, e.g., a USBdrive, and/or a disk, such as an optical disk, e.g., a CD and/or DVD.Alternatively or in addition, one or more of the database applicationand/or inventory records may be provided via a separate service and/ordatabase server. To the extent the inventory database 210 includes anexternal database system, it may be hosted locally to the data centerbuild server 208, e.g., accessible via a local area network (LAN) at acommon centralized location that is geographically remote from the datacenter unit 201. Alternatively or in addition, the external databasesystem the external database system may be hosted at another remotelocation, e.g., accessible by the data center build server 208 via anetwork, such as a local area network, metropolitan area network, a widearea network, a mobile network, e.g., a mobile cellular network, and soon.

In at least some embodiments, the data center build server 208 mayinclude executable instructions and/or be otherwise adapted to evaluatea data center requirement, to determine whether existing data centerresources are available to service the requirement, whether anyreconfiguration of existing data center resources may be necessary toservice the data center requirement, and/or to determine whether newand/or additional data center resources are necessary to service thedata center requirement. To the extent the data center build server 208determines that a reconfiguration and/or new configuration is required,the data center build server 208 may obtain predetermined configurationdata, e.g., a configuration file, form the inventory database 210. In atleast some instances, network engineers may establish beforehandconfiguration data, e.g., one or more configuration files, according toone or more of current tenants, services, and/or applications, and/orlikely future tenants, services and/or applications. The configurationfiles may be used to configure one or more of the data center units 201and/or host processors 202. For example, the configuration data or filesmay include one or more of an application type, a tenant identifierand/or category, a security level, a data processing volume, a dataprocessing speed and/or delay requirement, a communication type and/orchannel capacity, acceptable delay, jitter, and so on.

By way of example, the data center build server 208 may compare the datacenter requirement to available and/or otherwise already configured datacenter resources, such as a first group of data center units 201 and/orhost processors 202 that are configured. To the extent the data centerbuild server 208 determines that the data center requirement may be metby available, already configured resources, one or more of the firstgroup of data center units 201 and/or host processors 202 may beallocated to the requirement by the data center build server 208. Forexample and without limitation, the requirement may be an expansion ofan existing streaming service for a streaming services tenant, or aprovisioning of a web server for another tenant.

It is understood any determination and/or conclusion as to anavailability of spare data center capacity may consider one or more ofhistorical data, such as usage patterns, processor utilization, channelcapacity, delays, disk utilization, power consumption, cooling, and thelike. Such historical usage data may be used alone or in combinationwith a projection of future usage conditions. For example, the datacenter build server 208 may evaluate historical usage patterns and applyone or more projections of future usage patterns over some projectionperiod, e.g., a number of months, a year or longer, compare the usagepatterns and/or projections to the data center requirement and concludethat the first group of configured data center units 201 and/or hostprocessors 202 may not have sufficient capacity to support therequirement.

A “lights-out” data center, also known as a darkened or a dark datacenter, is a data center that, ideally, has all but eliminated the needfor direct access by personnel, except under extraordinarycircumstances. Because of the lack of need for staff to enter the datacenter, it can be operated without lighting. All of the devices areaccessed and managed by remote systems, with automation programs used toperform unattended operations. Lights-out management is a type ofout-of-band (00B) management that allows a system administrator tomonitor and manage data center resources, such as the data center units201 and/or the host processors 202 by remote control. In at least someembodiments, a lights-out management system includes a lights-outmanagement module or system and a program that facilitates a continuousmonitoring of data center variables, such as microprocessortemperatures, rack temperatures, power consumption and/or processorutilization.

It is envisioned that a lights-out module and/or monitored informationobtained by a lights-out management system may be used in evaluationand/or accessing a requirement for an expansion and/or repurposing ofone or more data center units 201 and/or host processors 202. Forexample, a data center may be provisioned with six data center units201, of which three may be configured according to a data centerrequirement and utilized to fulfill an intended purpose. The remainingthree may be left unused, possibly not having any configurationinformation stored thereon, e.g., without having an operating system oreven a boot file. Upon determining that a subsequent data centerrequirement requires a different data center unit 201 configurationand/or a different host processor configuration, the remote data centerconfiguration system 200 may identify one or more unused, e.g., not yetconfigured, data center units 201 and/or host processors 202 that may beremotely configured via the data center build server 208, according toconfiguration information obtained from the inventory database 210. Thedata center build server 208 may select and/or otherwise prepare aconfiguration file, which may include a boot file. The data center buildserver 208 may access one or more of the host processors 202 of one ormore data center units 201, the number depending upon the particulardata center requirement. For example, if the requirement may befulfilled by a single host processor 202, then the data center buildserver 208 may remotely configure one of a group of available hostprocessors 202 of one of the available data center units 201.

In at least some embodiments, the data center unit 201 includes a signaldirector adapted to facilitate connection of the preassigned port of agroup of host processors 202 to the WAN 209. According to theillustrative example, the signal director includes a switch 205. Theswitch 205 may facilitate shared access of the WAN 209 among two or moreof the host processors 202. For example, the switch 205 has a first port206 a or series of ports connected to the OBM subsystem 203.Alternatively or in addition, the switch 205 has a second port 206 b orseries of ports connected to a port associated with the PXE 204. Theswitch 205 may be adapted to handle out-of-band traffic and/or in-bandtraffic. In at least some embodiments in which the host processors 202are provided with PXE 204, the PXE 204 may be prevented from launchingupon power on and/or otherwise disabled to permit a remote system bootand/or configuration via the preassigned port, using a preassignedstatic IP address via an HTTPS communication session with the datacenter build server 208 via the WAN 209.

In at least some embodiments, the data center unit 201 includes one ormore other switches adapted to handle in-band traffic. According to theillustrative example, a first switch 207 a is in communication with afirst group of the host processors 202 of the data center unit 201.Likewise, a second switch 207 b is in communication with a second groupof the host processors 202 of the same data center unit 201. Theswitches 207 a, 207 b, generally 207 may be adapted to facilitatein-band communications of one or more suitably configured hostprocessors 202 of the data center unit 201.

The example system configuration anticipates that host processors 202may be prearranged in a data center unit 201, shipped to a data centerlocation that is geographically separated from the central location ofthe data center build server 208. Site technician support at the datacenter location may be limited to unpacking, inspecting and connectingthe data center unit 201 to a power source and a network connection thatmay include a LAN and/or WAN connection. According to the illustrativeexample, multiple host processors 202 of a single data center unit 201are connected to a switch provided with the data center unit 201, e.g.,all residing within a common equipment rack or cabinet.

No special configuration of the host processors 202 is necessary eitherprior to shipment to the data center site and/or during installation ofthe physical data center unit 201 to the power and network connections.Any configuration may be accomplished by site technicians and/or siteengineers via the centralized data center build server 208. The sitetechnicians and/or site engineers may access the data center buildserver 208 from a remote location, e.g., via a portal and/or accordingto a client-server configuration in which the data center build server208 is provided as a backend server accessible by applications hosted onuser equipment. Access to the backend server may be controlled and/orotherwise restricted using any suitable access and/or authorizationcontrol. Communications between user equipment and the backend servermay be secured, e.g., within a firewall and/or according to a securecommunications channel as may be provided by a virtual private network(VPN).

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a hybrid data center configuration system 220 functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein. In at least some embodiments, the hybrid datacenter 202 may utilize technologies such as virtualization, cloud and/orsoftware-defined networking to deliver application workloads acrossphysical data centers and/or multi-cloud environments. Hybrid datacenters offer at least some degree of application elasticity, e.g., byallowing physical resources, such as compute host processors and/orservers to be allocated, reallocated and/or otherwise repurposedaccording to growing, shrinking and/or changing applicationrequirements. In at least some embodiments, a single physical resource,e.g., a compute host, may be shared among one or more differentapplications and/or among one or more different network service providerclients and/or data center tenants.

According to the illustrative example, the hybrid data centerconfiguration system 220 includes a network environment 221 providingone or more virtual machines. For example, a first virtual machine VM1provides a dynamic host configuration (DHCP) server 223. The DHCP servermay be adapted to automate the process of configuring devices on IPnetworks, thus allowing them to use network services such as DNS, NTP,and any communication protocol based on UDP or TCP. A second virtualmachine VM2 may provide an HTTP-WAN Boot server 225. The HTTP-WAN bootserver 225 may facilitate a network booting of a remote compute host,such as a host processor of a first data center unit 222 a.

Continuing with the illustrative example, the network environment 221includes a third virtual machine VM3 that provides a central storagelocation, e.g., a software repository 231 adapted to maintain softwarepackages from which users may retrieve software packages and installthem on their computers. For example, the software repository 231 maycontain a software package that may be downloaded by a suitablyconfigured host processor of the first data center unit 222 a.

Yet another virtual machine VM4 of the example network environment 221may include a portal 226. The portal 226 may facilitate remote access byone or more users 228. For example, site engineers may use the portal226 to generate, modify, retrieve and/or direct configurationinformation to one or more data center units 222. Other virtual machinesVM5, VM6 may provide other services, such as domain name server (DNS)229 and/or a network time protocol (NTP) server adapted to facilitateclock synchronization between equipment of the network environment 221and equipment of the first data center unit 222 a, e.g., the hostprocessor 202 (FIG. 2A). The DNS server 229 may store public IPaddresses and other data associated with hostnames. In particular theDNS server 229 may store a preconfigured static IP addresses of a hostprocessor of the first data center unit 222 a, facilitating remoteaccess to the particular host processor device and/or data center unitswitch 205 (FIG. 2A) over the Internet. In at least some embodiments,the network environment 221 may include yet another virtual machine,e.g., a database connector 234, adapted to facilitate access to aninventory database 232.

In at least some embodiments, the example network environment 221 mayinclude a data center build server 233. The data center build server 233may be adapted to facilitate generation, modification, storage and/orretrieval of configuration information via the inventory database 232.Without restriction, the configuration information may be in the form ofa configuration file, such as an ISO image file that may include bootfiles to support a remote bootstrapping of equipment of the data centerunits 222 as disclosed elsewhere herein.

Configuration information retained within the database 232 may includean identification of data center units and/or compute hosts of a datacenter unit and/or individual compute hosts. Particular hardware devicesmay be identified by a suitably distinct indicia. Indicia may include,without limitation a vender-defined identification string, universallyunique identifier (UUID), e.g., a 128-bit number used to identifyinformation in computer systems, a globally unique identifier (GUID),e.g., as used, in software created by some vendors, and for mobilehosts, a mobile subscriber identification module (SIM). Still otherunique identifiers may include a MAC address, a static assigned IPaddress and any combination of the foregoing.

Other configuration managed and/or otherwise retained within thedatabase 232 may include a processor port number, e.g., anadministrative port, and/or a static IP address assigned to anadministrative port, a device type, an operating system type, anapplication type, a customer, subscriber and/or tenant identifier, anauthorized level of security, a device utilization, device maintenancerecords, historical performance and/or configuration data. It is worthnoting here that the configuration techniques disclosed herein may beapplied to configure a new host processor that may or may not beprovided with an image, e.g., the host processor may have unformattedstorage, e.g., only unformatted hard drive, or a newly formattedstorage, without any operating system and/or files, and the like.Alternatively or in addition, the configuration techniques may beapplied to a device in which an error was encountered, e.g., the devicebecame unusable. In at least some instances, the configurationtechniques may be applied to a properly functioning and previouslyconfigured host processor that has been designated for repurposing,e.g., according to a new data center requirement.

Then database connector 243 may be adapted to permit a review, e.g., bythe users 228, of available configuration data. Alternatively or inaddition, the database connector 243 may be adapted to permit creationof new configuration data and/or modification of existing configurationdata, each of which may be required to service a new data centerrequirement. The database connector 234 may provide a front end forsearching, storing, retrieving and/or modifying database records as maybe necessary to support operation and maintenance of data center units222 to service data center requirements.

The data center build server 233 may be hosted on a dedicated processthat may be collocated with other equipment of the example networkenvironment 221. Alternatively or in addition, the data center buildserver 233 may be remote from at least some equipment of the examplenetwork environment 221, e.g., being in communication with one or moreof the equipment of the example network environment 221, the inventorydatabase 232 and/or the data center units 222 via a network connection.It is envisioned that in at least some embodiments, the data centerconfiguration server 233 may be hosted on a virtual machine.

By way of example, one or more configurations may be preparedbeforehand, e.g., by network engineers working at the centralizedlocation, and/or working remotely through a portal, and stored withinthe inventory database 232 as configuration records. A datacenter units222 a may be sent to a geographically remote datacenter without firsthaving been configured. In at least some instances, the datacenter units222 a may not be configured with an operating system and in at leastsome instances, without a formatted storage drive. The datacenter units222 a may be unpacked and installed at the datacenter, e.g., providingphysical space, prime power, security and a network connection that isaccessible via a wide area network, such as the Internet. The remotelyinstalled datacenter unit 222 a may be booted remotely via thecentralized location, e.g., utilizing one or more of the HTTP/WAN Bootserver 225 and/or the DHCP server 223 via the network connection. Anexample remote boot and configuration process is illustrated accordingto the message exchange shown in FIG. 2B.

Network booting may use a generic network access method provided by anetwork interface's boot ROM. The boot ROM may include a pre-bootexecution environment (PXE) image to facilitate booting over a computernetwork. According to the illustrative example, the datacenter unit 222a may be assigned an IP address and accessed with the assistance of theDHCP server 223. An operating system may be stored and/or otherwiseretrievable from a configuration records of the inventory database 232.At least some parts of a configuration record, e.g., parts of anoperating system may be transferred to the datacenter unit 222 a overthe network connection, e.g., using a simple protocol such as theTrivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP).

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a remote data center configuration system 240 functioningwithin the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein. In at least some embodiments, the remote datacenter configuration system 240 includes a first network environment241, that may include a centralized network environment at a location,such as a location of an operation and maintenance center, providing oneor more subsystems or modules, e.g., application servers. For example, afirst application server provides a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)server 245. The HTTP server 245 may be adapted to facilitate HTTPcommunications with one or more remote data center units 242 a, 242 b,generally 242 via a wide area network, such as the Internet. In at leastsome embodiments, the HTTP server 245 is adapted to support secure HTTPcommunications from the central network environment 241 and the remotedata center unit 242 according to HTTPS, e.g., referred to as an HTTP(S)server 245.

In at least some embodiments, the HTTP(S) server 245 may provide anHTTP-WAN Boot service that facilitates a remote bootstrapping of one ormore compute hosts of the data center units 242. For example, a computehost of the remote data center unit 242 may be initialized, e.g., frompower on, according to a boot file accessible via the HTTP server 245.

Continuing with the illustrative example, the network environment 241may include a software repository 251 adapted to maintain software, suchas software packages from which users may retrieve software packages andinstall them on their computers. In at least some embodiments, thesoftware repository 251 may include software that is utilized in a buildprocess of one or more compute hosts of the remote data center units242. For example, the software repository 251 may include software thatis identified by a configuration file, such as an ISO image. In someembodiments, at least some software from the repository may be assembledinto the ISO image before a compute host of the remote data center 242is booted and/or otherwise configured according to the ISO image.Alternatively or in addition, the ISO image may initiate and/orotherwise direct an exchange of software from the software repository251 to the compute host of the remote data center unit 242. The softwareexchange may occur via the administrative port of the compute hostaccording to the HTTPS protocol. The software may be integral to thecompute host, as determined according to the ISO image. Alternatively orin addition, the software repository 251 may contain a software packagethat may be downloaded during a subsequent phase of operation, e.g.,after configuration of the compute host has been completed.

The network environment 241 may include a portal 226. The portal 246 mayfacilitate remote access to the network environment 241, and byextension, to the remote data center units 242 by one or more users 248.For example, site engineers may use the portal 246 to generate, modify,retrieve and/or direct configuration information to one or more datacenter units 242. Equipment of the network environment 241 may includesecurity precautions, such as a firewall. Likewise, equipment of a datacenter, such as the data center units 242 may also be protected bysecurity precautions, such as a firewall. As it is envisioned that atleast some of the equipment of the network environment 241 is at acentralized location, while the data center units 242 may begeographically remote from the centralized location, communicationsbetween both locations may be secured according to one or more of theexample HTTPS protocol, and/or via another security provision, such as avirtual private network (VPN).

In at least some embodiments, the remote data center configurationsystem 240 may include other security measures, e.g., in addition to theone or more firewalls and secure communications channel. For example,the remote data center configuration system 240 may include one or moreservers providing security to guard against unauthorized access to thenetwork environment 241 and/or the data center units 242. According tothe illustrative example, the remote data center configuration system240 includes an access restriction server 247. The access restrictionserver may enforce authorization process to ensure that the users 248are authorized users. In at least some embodiments, authorization may beprovided according to a layered implementation. For example, some usersmay be granted access to at least some of the equipment and/or servicesof the network environment, without having access to other equipmentand/or services. By way of example, access to the database connector 243and/or the inventory database 244 may restricted, such that authorizednetwork engineers may have read and write access to the inventorydatabase, while network technicians may have limited access, e.g., readaccess but not write access to the inventory database. The accessrestriction server 247 may provide an application authorizationframework (AAF), e.g., providing a fine-grained authorization, such thatprovided authorizations are able to use an application's detailedauthorizations, such as whether a user may be on a particular page orrecord, or whether a user has access to a particular topic or featurecontrolled via an app. Alternative or in addition, the accessrestriction server 247 may enforce a content security policy (CSP)providing an added layer of security adapted to detect and/or mitigatecertain types of attacks.

Other servers may provide other services, such as domain name server(DNS) 249 and/or a network time protocol (NTP) server 250, e.g., adaptedto facilitate clock synchronization between equipment of the networkenvironment 241 and/or equipment of the data center unit 242 a, e.g.,the host processor 202 (FIG. 2A). The DNS server 249 may store public IPaddresses and other data associated with hostnames. In particular theDNS server 249 may store a preconfigured static IP addresses of a hostprocessor of the data center unit 242, facilitating remote access to theparticular host processor device and/or data center switch 205 (FIG. 2A)over the Internet.

In at least some embodiments, the example network environment 241 mayinclude a data center build server 252. The data center build server 252may be adapted to facilitate generation, modification, storage and/orretrieval of configuration information via the inventory database 244.Without restriction, the configuration information may be in the form ofa configuration file, such as an ISO image file that may include bootfiles to support a remote bootstrapping of equipment of the data centerunits 222 as disclosed elsewhere herein.

The data center build server 252 may be hosted on a dedicated processthat may be collocated with other equipment of the example networkenvironment 241. Alternatively or in addition, the data center buildserver 252 may be remote from at least some equipment of the examplenetwork environment 241, e.g., being in communication with one or moreof the equipment of the example network environment 241, the inventorydatabase 244 and/or the data center units 242 via a network connection.

Although reference is made to a centralized network environment, it isenvisioned that in at least some embodiments, the network environment241 may be distributed to at least some degree. Alternatively or inaddition, one or more elements of the network environment 241 mayinclude one or more virtual machines, e.g., instantiated and/orotherwise managed according to a cloud service.

By way of example, one or more configurations may be preparedbeforehand, e.g., by network engineers working at the centralizedlocation, and/or working remotely through a portal, and stored withinthe inventory database 244 as configuration records. Datacenter units242 a may be sent to a geographically remote datacenter without firsthaving been configured for an intended purpose. In at least someinstances, the datacenter units 242 a may not be configured with anoperating system and in at least some instances, without any formattedstorage drive. The datacenter units 242 a may be unpacked and installedat the datacenter, e.g., providing physical space, prime power,security, and a network connection that is accessible via a wide areanetwork (WAN), such as the Internet. The remotely installed datacenterunit 242 a may be booted remotely via the centralized location, e.g.,utilizing the HTTP server 245 via a network connection, accessing thedatacenter unit 242 a via a preconfigured IP port of the datacenter unit242 a. An example remote boot and configuration process is illustratedaccording to the message exchange shown in FIG. 2C.

In more detail, a network bootstrap may utilize HTTPS to remotely bootand/or transfer configuration data to the datacenter unit 242 a over anetwork. In at least some embodiments, the bootstrapping and/or remoteconfiguration can be performed without use of a pre-boot executionenvironment, even if one should be provided on and/or otherwiseavailable to the datacenter unit 242 a. According to the illustrativeexample, the datacenter unit 242 a may be preconfigured with anadministrative port assigned a static IP address and accessed with theassistance of the HTTP server 245. An operating system may be storedand/or otherwise retrievable from a configuration records of theinventory database 244. At least some parts of a configuration record,e.g., parts of an operating system may be transferred to the datacenterunit 242 a over the network connection via HTTPS. In at least someembodiments, after an initial bootstrap of the datacenter unit 242 a,additional configuration data, such as one or more configuration filesmay be transferred from the centralized location to the datacenter unit242 a via HTTPS over the WAN. Without limitation, configuration dataand/or files may include all or part of an operating system, applicationprograms, remote server management software, BIOS updates, and the like.At least some of the configuration files may be obtained via thesoftware repository server 246.

FIG. 2D depicts an illustrative embodiment of a remote data centerconfiguration process 260 in accordance with various aspects describedherein. According to the process 260, or more data center requirementsare identified at 261. Data center requirements may be derived from oneor more of a request and/or demand for a new service and/or amodification of an existing service. Modifications may include anexpansion and/or contraction of an existing service. In this regard, aconfiguration records for a data center asset supporting the existingservice may exist within an inventory database 224 (FIG. 2C). A newservice may represent a new and different service for an existing datacenter tenant, e.g., a web hosting tenant who plans to launch astreaming service would require an expansion of data center assets toservice the new streaming service.

In at least some embodiments, one or more data centers may be dedicatedto one or more particular types of services, e.g., one being adapted forweb hosting applications, while another is adapted for media streamingapplications. In such instances, it is envisioned that the process 260may include a separate step in which a particular data center isidentified according to its suitability in view of the identified datacenter requirement. For example, should the data center requirementsrelate to a a new requirement and/or a modification of an existingrequirement, e.g., an expansion, of streaming media capability, theprocess 260 may include a separate step that identifies a target datacenter. In such instances, the identification of a target may dependupon the target data center's suitability. Suitability may be determinedin view of the network service providers policies and/or networkarchitecture planning or strategy. Alternatively or in addition,suitability may be determined according to a particular feature orfeatures of the data center requirement. By way of example, data centersuitability may be determined according to one or more of a datacenter's available compute host capacity, its expansion capacity, e.g.,its space, power and/or cooling capacity, its location, e.g., whetherits location makes sense in view of potential users, network traffic,router hops, delays, and/or geopolitical requirements. For example, adata center serving a particular country or region may necessarily belocated within that particular country or region, e.g., according tohosting agreements, and so on. Once a suitable data center has beenselected, the process 260 may continue from step 262.

Alternatively or in addition, some data centers may be allocated and/orotherwise reserved for a particular tenant, while others may not beallocated to any particular tenants. Still others may preclude a mixingof one tenant's compute hosts with those of another tenant, such as acompetitor. In such instances, identification of the data centerrequirements at 261 may include separately identifying a particulartenant and/or the process 260 may include a separate step of identifyinga tenant and/or tenants associated with the identified data centerrequirement. It is envisioned further that selection of a target datacenter may depend upon any combination of the foregoing, e.g.,suitability in combination with an identity of the particular tenant ortenants. Once a target data center has been identified, the process 260may continue at step 262.

A determination is made at 262 as to whether a new data center computehost is required. Operation and maintenance (O&M) records and/or theinventory database may identify existing data center assets alreadyallocated to tenants and/or tenant applications. Alternatively or inaddition, the O&M records may include historical data, such asperformance, past utilization, and the like. A data center configurationserver 254 may compare a new data center requirement to existing datacenter assets to determine whether available capacity already exists. Inat least some instances, available capacity may represent existing datacenter host processors or servers that may already be suitableconfigured according to the data center requirement, e.g., havingsufficient processing power, storage capacity, memory, cache, and thelike as may be required by an application and/or service associated withthe new data center requirement. Alternatively or in addition, existingservers may be available upon which new virtual machines may beinstantiated, e.g., according to a hypervisor, to address the new datacenter requirement.

To the extent one is not required, one or more data center assets may bereconfigured at 263 according to the new data center requirement. If theexisting assets are suitably configured, then a mere reallocation and/orreservation of the asset may be sufficient to address the new datacenter requirement. Alternatively or in addition, if the existing assetsrequire a reconfiguration, then the available assets may be reconfiguredaccording to the process for configuring a new asset as describedfurther below.

To the extent it is determined at 262 that a new compute host isrequired, the process 260 continues by generating a new data centercompute host configuration at 264. The new configuration record may bebased at least in part on a previously established configuration, e.g.,a configuration of a streaming media server for a particular tenant. Inat least some embodiments the existing configuration record may be usedas is. Alternatively or in addition, the existing configuration recordsmay be modified, e.g., providing a particular IP address and/orequipment identification data.

The configuration record may include a configuration file, such as aconfiguration image file, e.g., an ISO image file. The configurationrecord, whether new or modified, may be built at 265 according to thedata center compute host configuration. As mentioned, the compute hostconfiguration may be determined according to one or more of a particulartenant and/or a service or application associated with the new datacenter requirement.

A data center compute host 202 (FIG. 2A) is typically separatedgeographically from a centralized location at which the data centerbuild server 208 and/or associated data center configurationinfrastructure may be located. Thus, one such centralized location mayservice multiple data centers in multiple geographically separatelocations. Such centralization avoids unnecessary duplication ofconfiguration infrastructure, while alleviating travel requirements fornetwork engineers and/or service technicians as may be necessary toservice the new data center requirement. Accordingly, the data center,the data center unit 201 and/or the host processor 202 is accessed at266 remotely from the centralized location. The access may occur over awide area network, such as the Internet.

The accessed remote data center compute host 201 (FIG. 2A) is bootedremotely at 267 via the wide area network. For example, the boot processmay include a boot initialization via the ISO image file. The remotedata center compute host 201 is built and/or otherwise configuredaccording to the configuration file at 268. For example, configurationinformation is exchanged via an HTTPS communication exchange between adata center build server at the centralized location and the remote datacenter compute host. The remote data center compute host 201, havingbeen remotely configured or built according to the configuration file isready to accept traffic at 269. For example, the remotely configuredcompute host 201 may be allocated to one or more of a tenant and/or anapplication according to the data center requirement. It is envisionedthat in at least some embodiments, the inventory database and/or O&Mrecords are updated to reflect the newly added and/or reconfiguredcompute hosts 201.

In at least some embodiments, a determination is made at 270 as towhether another data center compute host is required. To the extent oneis required, the process 260 may continue by generating another computehost configuration at 264, building an ISO configuration image at 265,accessing the another remote data center compute host at 266, bootingthe remote data center compute host from the ISO image at 267, buildingthe remote data center compute host according to the ISO configurationimage at 268 and bringing the newly configured remote data centercompute host online at 270.

In at least some embodiments, the remotely configured or built computehost may be allocated to host one or more virtual machines. In at leastsome embodiments, the virtual machines, in turn, may be used toconfigure other data center compute hosts. The other data center hostsmay be collocated within a common data center with the remotelyconfigured compute host. Alternatively or in addition, the other datacenter hosts may be geographically separated from the remotelyconfigured compute host, e.g., at another data center and/or at thecentralized location.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 2D, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

The compute host configuration techniques disclosed here may be referredto as a “blackbox” concept of building network compute hosts at datacenters, that may or may not include a hybrid data center, remotely froma dynamically generated configuration record, e.g., a boot file. Thisblackbox technique may be applied in a general sense, without regard toany particulars of a configuration, as those details are implemented bythe illustrative techniques in combination with the particulars of theconfiguration records. According to these devices, processes and generaltechniques. the building of remote data centers, and in some instances,remote hybrid data centers, a relatively simple task. This simplifiedapproach provides a scalable solution that offers significant savings inone or more of hardware costs, support costs, licensing costs, as it isno longer necessary to build a local bootstrap, and/or seed host and/orgenesis node locally at each data center. Building data center assetsremotely from a centralized manner speeds up data center builds andimproves overall efficiency, as a core group of network engineers and/ortechnicians may support requirements in one or more data centers, in anoverlapping manner, without requiring travel expenses and/or delays.Beneficially, resources may be added “on demand” instead of allocatingresources ahead by over provisioning, wasting money and/or otherwisemaking expansions and/or reconfigurations of data center systemsinefficient.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , a block diagram is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication network300 in accordance with various aspects described herein. In particular avirtualized communication network is presented that can be used toimplement some or all of the subsystems and functions of system 100, thesubsystems and functions of system 200, 220, 240 and processes 260, 280presented in FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 3 . For example, virtualizedcommunication network 300 can facilitate in whole or in partidentification of a requirement for a new and/or modified compute hostat a data center, generating a bootable ISO image file in real-time at acentralized location that is geographically remote from the data center,and remotely booting and building the compute host according to the ISOimage file via an HTTPS. The remote boot and/or build process may beaccomplished via a single TCP port of the compute host having beenpreassigned a static IP address.

In particular, a cloud networking architecture is shown that leveragescloud technologies and supports rapid innovation and scalability via atransport layer 350, a virtualized network function cloud 325 and/or oneor more cloud computing environments 375. In various embodiments, thiscloud networking architecture is an open architecture that leveragesapplication programming interfaces (APIs); reduces complexity fromservices and operations; supports more nimble business models; andrapidly and seamlessly scales to meet evolving customer requirementsincluding traffic growth, diversity of traffic types, and diversity ofperformance and reliability expectations.

In contrast to traditional network elements—which are typicallyintegrated to perform a single function, the virtualized communicationnetwork employs virtual network elements (VNEs) 330, 332, 334, etc.,that perform some or all of the functions of network elements 150, 152,154, 156, etc., For example, the network architecture can provide asubstrate of networking capability, often called Network FunctionVirtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) or simply infrastructure that iscapable of being directed with software and Software Defined Networking(SDN) protocols to perform a broad variety of network functions andservices. This infrastructure can include several types of substrates.The most typical type of substrate being servers that support NetworkFunction Virtualization (NFV), followed by packet forwardingcapabilities based on generic computing resources, with specializednetwork technologies brought to bear when general-purpose processors orgeneral-purpose integrated circuit devices offered by merchants(referred to herein as merchant silicon) are not appropriate. In thiscase, communication services can be implemented as cloud-centricworkloads.

As an example, a traditional network element 150 (shown in FIG. 1 ),such as an edge router can be implemented via a VNE 330 composed of NFVsoftware modules, merchant silicon, and associated controllers. Thesoftware can be written so that increasing workload consumes incrementalresources from a common resource pool, and moreover so that it'selastic: so the resources are only consumed when needed. In a similarfashion, other network elements such as other routers, switches, edgecaches, and middle-boxes are instantiated from the common resource pool.Such sharing of infrastructure across a broad set of uses makes planningand growing infrastructure easier to manage.

In an embodiment, the transport layer 350 includes fiber, cable, wiredand/or wireless transport elements, network elements and interfaces toprovide broadband access 110, wireless access 120, voice access 130,media access 140 and/or access to content sources 175 for distributionof content to any or all of the access technologies. In particular, insome cases a network element needs to be positioned at a specific place,and this allows for less sharing of common infrastructure. Other times,the network elements have specific physical layer adapters that cannotbe abstracted or virtualized and might require special DSP code andanalog front-ends (AFEs) that do not lend themselves to implementationas VNEs 330, 332 or 334. These network elements can be included intransport layer 350.

The virtualized network function cloud 325 interfaces with the transportlayer 350 to provide the VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc., to provide specificNFVs. In particular, the virtualized network function cloud 325leverages cloud operations, applications, and architectures to supportnetworking workloads. The virtualized network elements 330, 332 and 334can employ network function software that provides either a one-for-onemapping of traditional network element function or alternately somecombination of network functions designed for cloud computing. Forexample, VNEs 330, 332 and 334 can include route reflectors, domain namesystem (DNS) servers, and dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)servers, system architecture evolution (SAE) and/or mobility managemententity (MME) gateways, broadband network gateways, IP edge routers forIP-VPN, Ethernet and other services, load balancers, distributers andother network elements. Because these elements don't typically need toforward large amounts of traffic, their workload can be distributedacross a number of servers—each of which adds a portion of thecapability, and overall which creates an elastic function with higheravailability than its former monolithic version. These virtual networkelements 330, 332, 334, etc., can be instantiated and managed using anorchestration approach similar to those used in cloud compute services.

The cloud computing environments 375 can interface with the virtualizednetwork function cloud 325 via APIs that expose functional capabilitiesof the VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc., to provide the flexible and expandedcapabilities to the virtualized network function cloud 325. Inparticular, network workloads may have applications distributed acrossthe virtualized network function cloud 325 and cloud computingenvironment 375 and in the commercial cloud or might simply orchestrateworkloads supported entirely in NFV infrastructure from thesethird-party locations.

The virtualized communication network 300 includes one or more datacenters 381, each housing one or more data center units (DCU) 382providing compute host processors that may be configured and/orreconfigured to provide application services to network service providerclients and/or data center tenants. The data centers 381 and/or the datacenter units 382, e.g., the compute hosts of the data center units 382,include at least one network interface adapted to facilitatecommunications with the virtualized network cloud 325 and/or with remotesystems and/or user equipment via the virtualized network cloud 325. Thevirtualized communication network 300 also includes one or morecentralized O&M centers 383, that may be adapted to support O&Mfunctions associated with one or more system elements, such as the datacenters 381 and/or the data center units 382.

According to the illustrative example, the O&M center 383 includes adata center build server 384 and an inventory database 385. Thecentralized location 383, e.g., via the data center build server 384, isin communication with the data center units 382 of the remote datacenter 381, via the virtualized network cloud 325. It is anticipatedthat one or more data centers 381 may be located in geographicallydiverse locations according to one or more of client requirements,end-user demand, facility availability, cost management, security, andthe like. In at least some embodiments, the data center builder server384 has a local user interface 386 (shown in phantom). According to theillustrative example, equipment supporting broadband access 110 may beconfigured with data center configuration functionality or app 390.Likewise, equipment supporting the media access 140 may be configuredwith data center configuration functionality 391. Alternatively or inaddition, equipment supporting the wireless access 120 may be configuredwith data center configuration functionality 392.

According to the example architecture, a network engineer may access,generate, store and/or otherwise modify, one or more configuration filesadapted to configure one or more of the data center units 382 accordingto various network and/or client requirements. The data centerconfiguration functionality or apps 390, 391, 392 may provide a browsertool to browse configuration files previously stored and retrievable viathe inventory database 385. Alternatively or in addition, the datacenter configuration functionality or apps 390, 391, 392 may provide afile editor to facilitate creation of new configuration files and/ormodification of previously generated configuration files retrievable viathe inventory database 385. Storage of any new and/or modifiedconfiguration files may be coordinated remotely via the data centerconfiguration functionality or apps 390, 391, 392. It envisioned that inat least some embodiments, one or more of the data center units 382built and/or modified according to configuration files managed locallyat the centralized O&M facility 383 and/or remotely via the centralizedO&M facility 383, may be used to support one or more VNEs 330, 332, 334of the virtualized network function cloud 325.

Turning now to FIG. 4 , there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. In order to provide additional context for various embodimentsof the embodiments described herein, FIG. 4 and the following discussionare intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitablecomputing environment 400 in which the various embodiments of thesubject disclosure can be implemented. In particular, computingenvironment 400 can be used in the implementation of network elements150, 152, 154, 156, access terminal 112, base station or access point122, switching device 132, media terminal 142, and/or VNEs 330, 332,334, etc. Each of these devices can be implemented viacomputer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers,and/or in combination with other program modules and/or as a combinationof hardware and software. For example, computing environment 400 canfacilitate in whole or in part identification of a requirement for a newand/or modified compute host at a data center, generating a bootable ISOimage file in real-time at a centralized location that is geographicallyremote from the data center, and remotely booting and building thecompute host according to the ISO image file via an HTTPS. The remoteboot and/or build process may be accomplished via a single TCP port ofthe compute host having been preassigned a static IP address.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

As used herein, a processing circuit includes one or more processors aswell as other application specific circuits such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit, digital logic circuit, state machine,programmable gate array or other circuit that processes input signals ordata and that produces output signals or data in response thereto. Itshould be noted that while any functions and features described hereinin association with the operation of a processor could likewise beperformed by a processing circuit.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and comprises any informationdelivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signalsrefers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediacomprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 4 , the example environment can comprise acomputer 402, the computer 402 comprising a processing unit 404, asystem memory 406 and a system bus 408. The system bus 408 couplessystem components including, but not limited to, the system memory 406to the processing unit 404. The processing unit 404 can be any ofvarious commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors andother multiprocessor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 404.

The system bus 408 can be any of several types of bus structure that canfurther interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 406comprises ROM 410 and RAM 412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can bestored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within the computer 402,such as during startup. The RAM 412 can also comprise a high-speed RAMsuch as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 402 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 414(e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal HDD 414 can also be configured forexternal use in a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy diskdrive (FDD) 416, (e.g., to read from or write to a removable diskette418) and an optical disk drive 420, (e.g., reading a CD-ROM disk 422 or,to read from or write to other high capacity optical media such as theDVD). The HDD 414, magnetic FDD 416 and optical disk drive 420 can beconnected to the system bus 408 by a hard disk drive interface 424, amagnetic disk drive interface 426 and an optical drive interface 428,respectively. The hard disk drive interface 424 for external driveimplementations comprises at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus(USB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies arewithin contemplation of the embodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 402, the drives and storagemedia accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format.Although the description of computer-readable storage media above refersto a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and aremovable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that other types of storage media which arereadable by a computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also be used in the exampleoperating environment, and further, that any such storage media cancontain computer-executable instructions for performing the methodsdescribed herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 412,comprising an operating system 430, one or more application programs432, other program modules 434 and program data 436. All or portions ofthe operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 412. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 402 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 438 and apointing device, such as a mouse 440. Other input devices (not shown)can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick,a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 404 through aninput device interface 442 that can be coupled to the system bus 408,but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, anIEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port,an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 444 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 408 via an interface, such as a video adapter 446. Itwill also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor 444can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display,a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving displayinformation associated with computer 402 via any communication means,including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to themonitor 444, a computer typically comprises other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 402 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 448. The remotecomputer(s) 448 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer402, although, for purposes of brevity, only a remote memory/storagedevice 450 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 452 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 454. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 402 can beconnected to the LAN 452 through a wired and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adapter 456. The adapter 456 can facilitate wiredor wireless communication to the LAN 452, which can also comprise awireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with the adapter 456. Inat least some embodiments, the network adapter 456 may be pre-configuredwith an IP address, e.g., a static IP address, assigned to anadministrator port. The IP address may be used to provide remote access,allowing for a remote boot and/or configuration according to ageographically remote database build server 208 (FIG. 2A).

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 402 can comprisea modem 458 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN454 or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 454,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 458, which can be internal orexternal and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the systembus 408 via the input device interface 442. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 402 or portionsthereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 450. It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are example and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers can beused.

The computer 402 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, ag, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

Turning now to FIG. 5 , an embodiment 500 of a mobile network platform510 is shown that is an example of network elements 150, 152, 154, 156,and/or VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc. For example, platform 510 can facilitatein whole or in part identification of a requirement for a new and/ormodified compute host at a data center, generating a bootable ISO imagefile in real-time at a centralized location that is geographicallyremote from the data center, and remotely booting and building thecompute host according to the ISO image file via an HTTPS. The remoteboot and/or build process may be accomplished via a single TCP port ofthe compute host having been preassigned a static IP address. In one ormore embodiments, the mobile network platform 510 can generate andreceive signals transmitted and received by base stations or accesspoints such as base station or access point 122. Generally, mobilenetwork platform 510 can comprise components, e.g., nodes, gateways,interfaces, servers, or disparate platforms, that facilitate bothpacket-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP), frame relay,asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS) traffic(e.g., voice and data), as well as control generation for networkedwireless telecommunication. As a non-limiting example, mobile networkplatform 510 can be included in telecommunications carrier networks andcan be considered carrier-side components as discussed elsewhere herein.Mobile network platform 510 comprises CS gateway node(s) 512 which caninterface CS traffic received from legacy networks like telephonynetwork(s) 540 (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), orpublic land mobile network (PLMN)) or a signaling system #7 (SS7)network 560. CS gateway node(s) 512 can authorize and authenticatetraffic (e.g., voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CSgateway node(s) 512 can access mobility, or roaming, data generatedthrough SS7 network 560; for instance, mobility data stored in a visitedlocation register (VLR), which can reside in memory 530. Moreover, CSgateway node(s) 512 interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PSgateway node(s) 518. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gatewaynode(s) 512 can be realized at least in part in gateway GPRS supportnode(s) (GGSN). It should be appreciated that functionality and specificoperation of CS gateway node(s) 512, PS gateway node(s) 518, and servingnode(s) 516, is provided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilizedby mobile network platform 510 for telecommunication over a radio accessnetwork 520 with other devices, such as a radiotelephone 575.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 518 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions cancomprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to themobile network platform 510, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 550,enterprise network(s) 570, and service network(s) 580, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 510 through PS gateway node(s) 518. It is to benoted that WANs 550 and enterprise network(s) 570 can embody, at leastin part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). Basedon radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s) orradio access network 520, PS gateway node(s) 518 can generate packetdata protocol contexts when a data session is established; other datastructures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can begenerated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 518 cancomprise a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks.

In embodiment 500, mobile network platform 510 also comprises servingnode(s) 516 that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) withintechnology resource(s) in the radio access network 520, convey thevarious packetized flows of data streams received through PS gatewaynode(s) 518. It is to be noted that for technology resource(s) that relyprimarily on CS communication, server node(s) can deliver trafficwithout reliance on PS gateway node(s) 518; for example, server node(s)can embody at least in part a mobile switching center. As an example, ina 3GPP UMTS network, serving node(s) 516 can be embodied in serving GPRSsupport node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)514 in mobile network platform 510 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bymobile network platform 510. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 518 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 516 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 514 can comprise utilityserver(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through mobile network platform 510 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 512and PS gateway node(s) 518 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 550 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to mobilenetwork platform 510 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as the distributed antennas networks shown in FIG. 1(s)that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more networkcoverage.

It is to be noted that server(s) 514 can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to confer at least in part the functionality of mobilenetwork platform 510. To that end, the one or more processors canexecute code instructions stored in memory 530, for example. It shouldbe appreciated that server(s) 514 can comprise a content manager, whichoperates in substantially the same manner as described hereinbefore.

In example embodiment 500, memory 530 can store information related tooperation of mobile network platform 510. Other operational informationcan comprise provisioning information of mobile devices served throughmobile network platform 510, subscriber databases; applicationintelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates, flat-rateprograms, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s) consistentwith telecommunication protocols for operation of disparate radio, orwireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 530 can also storeinformation from at least one of telephony network(s) 540, WAN 550, SS7network 560, or enterprise network(s) 570. In an aspect, memory 530 canbe, for example, accessed as part of a data store component or as aremotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 5 , and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines,programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

Turning now to FIG. 6 , an illustrative embodiment of a communicationdevice 600 is shown. The communication device 600 can serve as anillustrative embodiment of devices such as data terminals 114, mobiledevices 124, vehicle 126, display devices 144 or other client devicesfor communication via either communications network 125. For example,computing device 600 can facilitate in whole or in part identificationof a requirement for a new and/or modified compute host at a datacenter, generating a bootable ISO image file in real-time at acentralized location that is geographically remote from the data center,and remotely booting and building the compute host according to the ISOimage file via an HTTPS. The remote boot and/or build process may beaccomplished via a single TCP port of the compute host having beenpreassigned a static IP address.

The communication device 600 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 602 (herein transceiver 602), a user interface (UI) 604, apower supply 614, a location receiver 616, a motion sensor 618, anorientation sensor 620, and a controller 606 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 602 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, WiFi, DECT, orcellular communication technologies, just to mention a few (Bluetooth®and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth® Special InterestGroup and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellular technologies caninclude, for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO,WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wireless communicationtechnologies as they arise. The transceiver 602 can also be adapted tosupport circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 604 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 608 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or anavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device600. The keypad 608 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 600 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. The keypad 608 canrepresent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a QWERTYkeypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 604 can further include a display610 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology forconveying images to an end user of the communication device 600. In anembodiment where the display 610 is touch-sensitive, a portion or all ofthe keypad 608 can be presented by way of the display 610 withnavigation features.

The display 610 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 600 can be adapted to present a user interfacehaving graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The display 610 can be equipped withcapacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technology to detect howmuch surface area of a user's finger has been placed on a portion of thetouch screen display. This sensing information can be used to controlthe manipulation of the GUI elements or other functions of the userinterface. The display 610 can be an integral part of the housingassembly of the communication device 600 or an independent devicecommunicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (suchas a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 604 can also include an audio system 612 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high-volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 612 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 612 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI604 can further include an image sensor 613 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 614 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 600 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 616 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 600 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor 618can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motionof the communication device 600 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 620 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device600 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 600 can use the transceiver 602 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth®, or other wirelessaccess points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time offlight (TOF) measurements. The controller 606 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits,and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executingcomputer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by theaforementioned components of the communication device 600.

Other components not shown in FIG. 6 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 600 can include a slot for adding or removing an identity modulesuch as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifyingsubscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and soon.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.,

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, comprisingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, smartphone, watch, tabletcomputers, netbook computers, etc.), microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. Theillustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network; however, some if not allaspects of the subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alonecomputers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules canbe located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

In one or more embodiments, information regarding use of services can begenerated including services being accessed, media consumption history,user preferences, and so forth. This information can be obtained byvarious methods including user input, detecting types of communications(e.g., video content vs. audio content), analysis of content streams,sampling, and so forth. The generating, obtaining and/or monitoring ofthis information can be responsive to an authorization provided by theuser. In one or more embodiments, an analysis of data can be subject toauthorization from user(s) associated with the data, such as an opt-in,an opt-out, acknowledgement requirements, notifications, selectiveauthorization based on types of data, and so forth.

Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. The embodiments (e.g., in connection withautomatically identifying acquired cell sites that provide a maximumvalue/benefit after addition to an existing communication network) canemploy various AI-based schemes for carrying out various embodimentsthereof. Moreover, the classifier can be employed to determine a rankingor priority of each cell site of the acquired network. A classifier is afunction that maps an input attribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), toa confidence that the input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Such classification can employ a probabilistic and/orstatistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilitiesand costs) to determine or infer an action that a user desires to beautomatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example ofa classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates by finding ahypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which the hypersurfaceattempts to split the triggering criteria from the non-triggeringevents. Intuitively, this makes the classification correct for testingdata that is near, but not identical to training data. Other directedand undirected model classification approaches comprise, e.g., naïveBayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logicmodels, and probabilistic classification models providing differentpatterns of independence can be employed. Classification as used hereinalso is inclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to developmodels of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.,

As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, theterms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By wayof illustration and not limitation, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In addition, these components can execute from variouscomputer readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by asoftware or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. While various components have beenillustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiplecomponents can be implemented as a single component, or a singlecomponent can be implemented as multiple components, without departingfrom example embodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates thebeginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by otheractivities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indicationreflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/ormay be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further,while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, otherorderings are likewise possible provided that the principles ofcausality are maintained.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupledto”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/orindirect coupling between items via one or more intervening items. Suchitems and intervening items include, but are not limited to, junctions,communication paths, components, circuit elements, circuits, functionalblocks, and/or devices. As an example of indirect coupling, a signalconveyed from a first item to a second item may be modified by one ormore intervening items by modifying the form, nature or format ofinformation in a signal, while one or more elements of the informationin the signal are nevertheless conveyed in a manner than can berecognized by the second item. In a further example of indirectcoupling, an action in a first item can cause a reaction on the seconditem, as a result of actions and/or reactions in one or more interveningitems.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves thesame or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments describedor shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intendedto cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure.For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can becombined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can alsobe negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or withoutreplacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The stepsor functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subjectdisclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functionsdescribed with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure canbe performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions ofthe subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from othersteps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further,more than or less than all of the features described with respect to anembodiment can also be utilized.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processingsystem including a host processor of a data center geographicallyseparated from a centralized location, information from a server at thecentralized location via a wide area network in communication with ahost processor port associated with a pre-assigned static internetprotocol (IP) address, wherein the information comprises a boot sequenceand a host processor configuration file; booting, by the processingsystem, the host processor according to the boot sequence; and building,by the processing system, the host processor according to the hostprocessor configuration file received from the centralized location viathe host processor port to obtain a configured data center processor. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the host processor configuration filecomprises an ISO image file located at the centralized location.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the ISO image file comprises a record of theboot sequence.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining,by the processing system, configuration data from the host processorconfiguration file according to an application requirement; andorganizing, by the processing system, the configuration data.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising: determining, by the processingsystem, the application requirement responsive to a request for serviceobtained via a portal.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the hostprocessor configuration file is generated beforehand according to theapplication requirement.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the bootingfurther comprises: booting, by the processing system, the host processorremotely from the centralized location via the host processor port. 8.The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying, by theprocessing system and from a data center facility configuration record,an available resource located at the data center, wherein the static IPaddress of the available resource is obtained via the data centerfacility configuration record.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: establishing, by the processing system, a securecommunication channel between the processing system and the hostprocessor.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the host processorconfiguration file is provided over the secure communication channelaccording to a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).
 11. A device,comprising: a host processing system including a processor of a datacenter; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the host processing system, facilitate performance ofoperations, the operations comprising: receiving, via a host processorport of the host processing system, information from a server of acentralized location geographically separated from the data center,wherein the host processor port is associated with a static IP address,and wherein the information comprises a boot sequence; booting the hostprocessing system according to the boot sequence and without utilizingpre-existing software resources available at the data center; andconfiguring the host processing system according to a configurationfile, wherein, responsive to the configuring, configuration informationis obtained securely from the centralized location via the hostprocessor port to obtain a suitably configured data center processingsystem.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the configuration filecomprises an ISO image.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the ISOimage comprises a record of the boot sequence.
 14. The device of claim11, wherein the configuration file is obtained from a configurationdatabase according to an application requirement.
 15. The device ofclaim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: establishing a securecommunication channel between the server of the centralized location andthe host processing system.
 16. The device of claim 15, wherein theconfiguration information is received via the secure communicationchannel according to a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).
 17. Anon-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a host processing system including aprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, the operationscomprising: obtaining via a host processor port of the host processingsystem of a data center, information from a server of a centralizedlocation geographically separated from a data center, wherein the hostprocessing port is associated with a static IP address, and wherein theinformation comprises a boot record; booting the host processing systemaccording to the boot record; and initializing the host processingsystem according to a configuration file obtained from the centralizedlocation via the host processing port without utilizing softwareresources pre-existing at the data center.
 18. The non-transitory,machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the configuration filecomprises an ISO image file located at the centralized location.
 19. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein theconfiguration file is adapted to service an application requirement. 20.The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein theinitializing the host processing system configures the host processingsystem according to the application requirement.